‘Digital marketing is a competitive business; I needed a professional qualification to give me an edge.’

Matt Whittles‘ journey into digital began shortly after graduating from university, and he’s shown no sign of slowing down since.

Looking for his first job out of full-time education, Matt found himself gravitating towards roles that relied heavily on social media and digital skills. After setting up social media platforms for a Palestinian youth organisation and working as a parliamentary assistant and social media manager to an MP, Matt realised his future lay in the digital side of his work. Lacking the formal training to take things further, he began researching digital marketing courses and came across Squared Online.‘

‘I was sold on the programme straight away,’ he says. ‘Then I got a really positive review of the course from a friend of my employer and I didn’t look back.’What were his goals going into the course?

‘I wanted to come out the other end and be able to say that I was a professional. Digital marketing is a competitive business, so I needed a professional qualification behind me to give me an edge. Squared Online did that and more.’

Matt had used online learning platforms before during his studies, but Squared Online was much bigger in scale.

‘The Virtual Campus was really great,’ he says, ‘it’s just a really fun environment to work in! The tutors were so engaging, and I met people who are as passionate about digital as I am.’

He describes his stand-out moment in the course as coming pretty early on, during the first virtual group project in module 2. This project tasks Squares with developing an online business proposal and creating a pitch presentation for investors.

‘I had started the program with an online business idea already in mind, so when my group chose to develop it I was stoked! At the same time I also suddenly found myself in a leadership position, and was up against some really tough questions, like: ‘Is this a viable plan? How would it work? Am I really capable of doing something like this?’ I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone.’

The pitch ended up landing one of the highest scores in his cohort, and his team mates went on to nominate him an Inspirational Square – the award for students who have excelled throughout their time on Squared Online, and inspired and actively empowered others along the way – for his fantastic teamwork and guidance throughout the project.

‘To graduate with such a title was an incredible compliment,’ he says. ‘I couldn’t have asked for more.’

So what’s he been up to since graduating?

‘A month after Squared Online I was promoted to Digital Content Strategist at Breakthrough Media, so it’s been a busy year!’ he tells us. ‘Everything I learned during my time on the course has been relevant to my new role, so I’m very thankful – it’s really helped me set myself up for my future career.’